News (Detail)

New Research School of Radiation Sciences at HMGU

In a joint endeavor with the two universities in Munich, Helmholtz Zentrum München is establishing the Helmholtz Research School of Radiation Sciences (RS2). The Helmholtz Association has allocated funds for a six-year period for the graduate school, which will enroll up to 25 international graduate students.

Radiation research is a multidisciplinary field linking biology, technology and medicine. The driving forces are the multifaceted uses of radiation in the clinic and the need to protect patients from long-term health effects of exposure to radiation. The continued development and improvement of applications using radiation in the fields of diagnostics, imaging and radiation therapy requires a highly skilled and technically competent workforce, creative scientific innovation and encouragement for basic and clinical scientist to work together to translate new ideas from the bench to the patient.

The Helmholtz Zentrum München (HMGU), the Technical University (TUM) and the Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) already have a long-term cooperation in the field of radiation research.  Through their outstanding clinical research activities, the universities will afford a close insight for young scientists into application-driven research, whilst our internationally excellent basic research activities will provide the scientific fundamentals to take clinical research forward. At HMGU, the Department of Radiation Sciences indicates a commitment to supporting research in the radiation sciences.

Through the Research School in Radiation Sciences a formal structure will be created to train and support the next generation of researchers. The school will be unique within Europe in both scope and focus, and will provide an international landmark identifying the shift in emphasis towards new medical uses of radiation. The research activities will cover three interrelated research fields, radiation oncology, radiation physics and medical physics. Each individual project will be a joint project between two partner institutions. Students will be recruited internationally and provided with a training environment based upon a combination of formal teaching and research. Students will participate in training ranging from taught subjects, scientist training as well as extramural and soft-skills activities. These will be open to HELENA members, as well as graduate students of the LMU and TUM.

The school will be headed by Mike Atkinson, ISB. A local faculty will be drawn from senior and junior scientists at the HMGU, LMU and TUM, and will be complemented by an international faculty recruited from all fields of radiation research. Organizationally, the Helmholtz Research School of Radiation Sciences – RS2 will become part of the Helmholtz Graduate School Environmental Health (HELENA).

Contact

Dr. Mandy Birschwilks